Neither Can I
by Freelance7
Summary: After finding a map of an uncharted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, twins Dipper and Mabel Pines set off to find this island, with the hopes of discovering treasure and family secrets. Turns out, someone beat them there.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This takes place in an AU where they did visit their great uncle from time to time, but none of the weird supernatural stuff happened and none of the more minor characters like Pacifica were met. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Readjusting his hat, pulling his hooded vest a bit, taking the cap off and running a hand through his messy brown hair. He was anxious. His eyes flitted down to the brass door handle, then up at the numbers.

"Twelve," he muttered, sliding his fingers along his clean shaven face.

Raising his fist, he hesitated, looking off to the side, out the window that ended this hallway. He exhaled, breath releasing from between his lips and joining the rest of the environment. He knocked on the door, stepped back, crossed his arms, and waited.

He didn't know how to feel. He was happy. And scared. He hasn't seen this person in years. A person who meant a lot to him. Because they had so much in common. Because they spent their entire lives together.

The door cracked open, and a brunette head peeked through the gap.

"Dipper!"

Because they were twins.

The door closed, the sound of a lock sliding, and it was flown open before Dipper felt arms thrown around him.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I didn't think you'd come! Oh, it's so nice to see you!"

 _Her enthusiasm definitely makes up for the fact that she is choking me._ He thought, a smile gracing his face as he chuckled.

"It's...I missed you too Mabel," he hugged her back, meaning every word. He missed her over exaggerated welcomes, her snuggly sweaters, her wide smiles.

She pulled back, staring into his eyes. "You never changed. You still wear the dumb hat Grunkle Stan gave you, and do you get the same ol' vests that you wore before you left? The only thing different about you is your...you stopped wearing shorts...and you're taller than me."

Dipper frowned, giving a slight smile as he gestured to her. "Me? Look at you! You're wearing a sweater with a pencil skirt! And I told you I would be taller. It makes sense biologically!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you and your...biological...stuff!"

He shook his head, tilting his head a bit to look behind her. His smile turned downward at the sight of multiple boxes crowding the apartment.

He glanced at her. "You still don't know what to do with it all, do you?"

Her eyebrows raised as she looked over her shoulder at her place. She turned her head back to him, shaking her head. "He had so much stuff...it's amazing. And since mom and dad aren't around anymore either...I was given it all."

Dipper stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yeah...hey, I am sorry I couldn't attend the funeral. I was in the middle of getting a book published and...I am sorry, Mabel. I should've made it, I know. You were probably a wreck. I kinda...was. I couldn't get out of bed for a few days. Had to have phone conferences with my publisher."

Mabel shrugged, gesturing for him to follow as she walked into the apartment. "I was sad, sure. But I understand that you couldn't make it. Jobs and...life…" she sat down on her sofa, where the corners of her lips turned up in a smile as she reached underneath the cushions, "But I got something...from Stan...and I think it was meant for us."

Dipper cocked an eyebrow. "Mabel? What...are you talking about?"

"I am talking about…" from under the cushions, she pulled out an old worn out book, "this!"

His expression became more confused as he took the book from her hands, the torn leather rough against his skin. "What is it?" He asked, opening it up and rifling through the pages.

"It's a journal of some kind. It has all sorts of symbols and pictures that I have never seen or heard of. But, what interested me the most was this page," she stood up and flipped a few pages before stopping on what looked like a map, "It's some island that isn't on the world map, somewhere in the Pacific. It has numbers up here in the corner and I was wondering if you knew what they meant."

Dipper narrowed his eyes at the numbers. "They look like coordinates," he turned his head up to look at her, "Why are you showing me this?"

Mabel's eyes widened with an excitement he knew all too well. She was almost hopping on her feet. "What if there is a treasure on this island? A family heirloom? And Stan wanted us to find it?"

The young man pursed his lips. "So what you're telling me is...you want us to go on an adventure?"

Mabel, with a wide open smile, nodded. "Yes. Like when we were kids, but for real! And with an actual reward!"

Dipper sighed and returned the book to her. "This isn't play pretend anymore, Mabel. We could actually get hurt or die. It's dangerous."

The sister was silent for a moment, staring at him, before speaking, her voice calm, "I know Dipper. But we are older and we have each other. Besides, don't you want to know more about our family history? This could give us that."

He raised an eyebrow at her, thinking of what would be the best thing to do. He did miss the old times where they pretended to go on adventures, and he did miss being with his sister. And he really did want to know more about their family. This could be the only way. It could be his only chance at finding out their family history.

After a minute of thinking, and a minute of Mabel's anxious stare, he held his hand out to the book, gesturing for her to give it to him.

She smiled and provided him the book once again, hugging him tight after he took it.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Dipper!"

He couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. "Mabel...Mabel, seriously, it's...it's not a problem. Just let go of me so that I can find find out where this island is."

She let go of him, nodding and grinning as she stepped back. "Of course. My laptop is right there if you need it. Thank you Dipper. Really."

He shook his head. "Hey, don't worry about it. That's what siblings are for. Besides, I need to make up for all of our lost time together. And if my navigation skills are good enough, we won't need your laptop. Do you have a map?"

She chortled and sniffed. "Dipper, do you really think I keep maps of the world around?"

"Well...I guess I assumed."

"And what does assuming do?"

"...Mabel-"

"Ah, ah! What does it do?"

He sighed, sitting down at her desk and putting the book on it. "It...it makes an ass out of you and me."

"Exactly!"

Dipper pursed his lips and glanced at his sister. "I should...probably get to work."

"Yes, you should!"

* * *

"Found it! Thirty five degrees, twenty seven minutes, forty-point-six seconds north, one hundred forty-three degrees, fifty eight minutes, forty-one-point-one west."

Mabel, sitting on the couch, threw her head up, looking at the ceiling. "Ugh! What does that even mean? Minutes, seconds?"

Dipper smirked at his sister's questioning. He spun the seat of the office chair around, his fingers already wrapped around one of her pens. "Think of it as-"

Her eyes widened, hand shooting out and snatching it from his grip. "No! You are not

biting my pens. I forbid you!"

Dipper stared up at her fire-filled eyes, threatening to kill him if he even thought about sinking his teeth into one of her ballpoints. "Sorry, Mabel...force of habit...anyway, think of the minutes and seconds as a way to find the exact degrees, like in decimals or a fraction. For example, there are sixty seconds in a minute, and sixty minutes in a degree."

Mabel's angry expression disappeared, replaced by a curious one. "So…like, making it more exact than just the degrees?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so now that we have the coordinates, let's go!" She exclaimed, making for the door.

"Uh, Mabel?"

"Yeah?" She turned around, a wide smile on her face.

"We can't just go there. We need a boat."

"A boat?"

"Yeah...this island is in the Pacific Ocean."

"Oh...right...well I think I might know some people."

"Friends?"

"You might remember them, just let me call them," she said, pulling her phone out. She dialed in a number and pulled it up to her ear.

"Hey, it's Mabel. Yeah, he is right here, want to say hi before we get to business? Alright," she held her phone out to him, "she wants to say hi."

Dipper cocked an eyebrow, taking the phone from her hand. "S-she…?" He raised it up to his ear, "Uhm...hello?"

"Dipper? Is that you?"

His eyes widened. He remembered that voice. He almost couldn't believe it was her.

"Wendy?" His past crush when they went to visit Grunkle Stan a lot.

"Yeah. Holy crap, Dip. It's been a while. How was the east coast?"

"Y-yeah, it has been a while," he glanced at his sister, seeing her grinning ear to ear. He frowned and shook his head, mouthing _Not anymore,_ then he returned to Wendy, "Uh, the east coast? Yeah, the east coast was great, it was...great. Got a book or two published. Did pretty well but I am glad to be back in the west, you know?"

"Dude, we gotta get back to our old shenanigans, I miss those. Anyway, your sister said something about business, so please pass the phone back."

Dipper nodded, even though Wendy couldn't see him. "Yeah, sure." He said before returning the phone back to it's owner.

She turned her back to him. "Yeah, so anyway...I know his voice got pretty deep, didn't it?"

"Ahem, business?" Dipper reminded his sister.

"Oh, right, sorry. Yeah, yeah, he is still the same Dipper, wanting to get to the point of things."

"Ahem!"

"Right! Anyway, remember when Grunkle Stan passed away, I got his stuff? Yeah, I know, thank you, Wendy, but I have gotten past it. He is in a better place...I hope. But anyway, I got all of his stuff. Yup, even the more disturbing stuff. But I found this journal, and inside of it was what looked like a map to the island. I didn't understand it much, so I asked Dipper to come over. Thanks to him, we now know where it is, but we need one thing: a boat. So I just need to know...are you still in contact with Soos?"

Dipper's head picked up, eyes staring wide as Mabel smiled at him. "Oh, you do? Good. I think Dipper is already excited. Anyway, I just wanted to know if he still had that rad boat we went fishing on that one time?" She raised her eyebrows, "Of course it will get us to the island. You're lack of confidence in the S.S. Soos is disappointing. Besides, we can just carry more fuel on the boat...come on, Wendy, it'll be fun! Just us four, looking for treasure on an uncharted island? That would be, like, the best!"

She stayed silent for a few moments. Soon, her smile widened. "Awesome! I can't wait! See you tomorrow!"

Hanging up, she put her hands on her hips in a majestic pose. "We sail in the morrow!"

Dipper smirked at his sister's silly nature, and stood up to hug her tight, pulling her in close. He remained quiet as she looked at him, slightly surprised. "Dipper?"

He pulled back and gripped her arms, looking her in the eyes. "Would it be too sappy to say I missed your personality a lot?"

Mabel stared him back before breaking out into a laugh. "Yes! Totally!" She recovered from her laughing and grabbed his shoulders, "But it doesn't mean I can't appreciate it."

He smirked, looking down at his feet. "Well...I guess we are going on an adventure. It's probably going to be boring, but whatever."

"If it is boring, then I will try to make it fun for you!"

He chuckled. "I can't wait."

Mabel nodded, mind running with ideas of how this journey will go.

"Neither can I."

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you'll stick around until the end of this story. This is my first story in the fandom of Gravity Falls, after having been locked to Attack on Titan for so long, it's nice to breathe in this new world I have been shown to. But still, give me your praise or criticism, as they both helps me when writing. And make sure it's constructive. Anyway, again, thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Okay, yesterday I was excited. Now? I am nervous."

"Was that a question, or a statement?"

"A statement, Mabel. It...it was a statement."

"It sounded like a question. Nervous-y pants."

"Nervous-y isn't a word."

"In the Mabel Oxford Dictionary, it is!"

"Well in the English Oxford one, it isn't."

"Pfft...party pooper," the young woman muttered, turning her car around a corner onto another street.

"What'd you call me?" Dipper leaned closer to his sister.

She didn't turn her head, just stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth and blew a raspberry, sending saliva to hit his face. She began to laugh as he recoiled in disgust.

"Agh! I thought you stopped doing that?"

"Only when you weren't around. But you're here now, so may the spit-letting commence!"

"How about not?"

"How about so?"

"No."

"Yes."

"I am not continuing this," Dipper gave up, resting his chin on his hand supported by one of the car door's protuberances.

The car went silent, the only sounds being the car's inner-workings and the other vehicles outside.

Dipper's eyes just followed the people on the sidewalk, going about their business, not knowing of the adventure these twins will go on.

" _Thbbpthbpt!"_

Dipper's head snapped towards Mabel at the feeling of saliva on his nape. "Stop that!"

She laughed. "Oh, Dipper, you need to take a chill pill. Why are you so nervous? Is it about Wendy and Soos? They missed you just as much as I did! And I am being serious!"

Dipper turned his head down, scrunching his mouth up to one corner in thought. _Will they be angry that I left them all so suddenly? Mabel isn't but...unless she is hiding it...no, no, she would tell me. She would…_

"Almost there!" His sister shouted, making him jump in his seat as she pulled into a parking lot near the docks. "We're here!"

Dipper could smell the sea air as he exited the car, almost missing it as he has been so far away from the Pacific Ocean. _Does it smell different from the Atlantic? Maybe._

"You're thinking about it too, aren't you?" Mabel asked him from behind.

The brother chuckled. "Well, it's been said that twins share the same thoug-what are you wearing?" He asked, turning around to see his sister wearing shades.

"Oh, what? Whatever do you mean, my dearest Dipper? You mean-mwop!-these awesome-ass spectacles? Are...are they just too cool for you? Too fresh? Too fly?"

Dipper, with what seemed to be impossibly wide eyes, spoke, "Mabel, can you do me a favor?"

"Haha, what?"

"Never...ever say fresh or fly preceded by the word 'too'. Like...ever again."

"You let me keep these fresh and fly shades, and you got yourself a deal."

"Ugh...fine."

"Glad to do business with you," she smiled, reaching out to take his hand and shake it.

"A pleasure," Dipper replied, smirking as he gestured for her to lead the way.

Following behind his sister, Dipper couldn't help but shake the feeling that his friends really got upset when he left without any prior warning. He couldn't handle it if they hated him.

"I think I see them," Mabel said, pointing over to a boat. Not a big one, but a well maintained one. It was clean to a degree and looked ready to sail. On the side it has delicately painted:

 _The S.S. Cool Dude._

And standing by it were two people, conversing some subject of which the twins could not hear. One was a redheaded woman with freckles peppering her face, who Dipper remembered being taller than him back when he was younger, but now, she was at least at his chest. She still liked to wear flannel, and she still liked that old brown lumberjack hat.

The other was a big man. Big in every way. He still had the same beaver teeth, but he did at the very least wear a different t-shirt. One without a question mark. But he still wore shorts.

Dipper could see his eyes wander over to the twins and widen, his smile becoming bigger as he pointed in their direction, speaking a few words to the redhead.

She looked over, her eyes widening as well as she waved and shouted in excitement.  
"Yo! Dudes! Over here!"

Mabel smiled and waved back before taking Dipper's hand and pulling him along as she ran down to the boat, the brother feeling like his arm is being torn off as she had him in a vice-like grip.

The closer they got, the more detailed their friends' faces became. They did seem genuinely happy to see them. _Or maybe just Mabel_ , he thought as they approached the two.

"Dudes, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Soos stepped in to wrap his thick arms around both of them.

"I missed you both. Nice to have the twins around again."

The two siblings were straining to breathe. "It's...nice to see you too...Soos," Dipper managed to choke out.

They felt someone tug at his arm. "Yo, bro, let me get some of them, you greedy bastard."

"Oh!" Soos exclaimed, releasing the two from his hold, only to be grabbed by thinner but just as strong arms.

"You two! Oh dear god, things were so boring without you! It's nice to be back together again, the whole gang!"

She let go of them and pushed their bodies a bit away to get a good look. "Well, you both obviously got taller. Nothing seemed to have changed in the clothing department. And Dipper, do you shave regularly, or can you not grow a beard?"

Dipper reached up to feel his chin. "I-uh...I shave regularly."

She put her hands on her his, nodding her head. "Nice, nice, bro. My brothers are like my dad. Shave one night, wake up the next with a full beard. It's freaky, dude."

Dipper laughed. "No doubt."

Mabel looked at the boat. "Will this get us there?"

Soos took on a more confident look. "Listen, hambone, never think the S.S. Cool Dude lacks in speed. Trust me, it will get us there, or my name isn't Soos."

Dipper smirked. "Is it?"

Soos frowned. "Is what?"

"Is your name Soos?"

"Oh...dude, is it?"

Wendy rolled her eyes. "They are screwing with you, dude."

"Oh...dude, that's not cool. Don't mess with me, man."

The redhead sighed and jerked her thumb towards the boat. "We should get going," she said, with Soos nodding and walking ahead of them to get the boat ready, she turned to the twins, "You two ready?"

Dipper was going to answer, but Mabel stepped in front of him, hands on her hips in a majestic pose. "Dude, you're damn straight we're ready."

Wendy smirked before pointing at Mabel's glasses. "Dude, nice shades."

"Hah! Thank you! At least someone appreciates them!" She said, giving a glare to her brother.

Nobody could see it, because she was wearing shades.

They began to make their way to the boat, with Wendy being a few steps ahead. "So, a true adventure for us, huh? We gonna be fighting merciless pirates and finding chests of gold?"

Dipper chuckled, pulling the journal out of his vest. "Probably not. There is a huge chance is just old family heirlooms, so kinda gold, but not gold. I am hoping there could be more knowledge of the family history there. This journal does not have much history to it. Just a map, and a lot of graphs with strange symbols."

"Can I take a look?" Wendy asked, holding her hand out.

The young man glanced down at the book, then at her. "Uh...sure, but I doubt you could make any sense of it."

Wendy mocked a scoff, taking the book and opening it. "Come on, man, don't you believe in your- yup, I'm bored, take it back."

Dipper raised his eyebrows and grabbed it from her hands, tucking it back into his vest. "I will see if I could make more sense of it on the way there."

The redhead nodded, stepping onto the boat. Dipper followed suit, only to almost lose his footing when his sister shrieked, " _ADVENTURE!"_

* * *

And so they set off, going towards the coordinates found in the journal, hoping to find what they seek. The four former Mystery Shack employees all went about their own "tasks": Dipper deciphering the book, Soos manning the boat, Wendy checking their equipment…

And Mabel, elbow rested on the railing, just watching the ocean, admiring the serene view that side of the ship gave her.

Dipper wasted no time, taking out a pen to bite on. One that he bought just before they left since Mabel wouldn't allow him any of hers.

His eyes scanning the pages, he was about to naw on the ballpoint in his hand when someone tapped his shoulder and sat down next to him.

"So...is the east coast the beast coast, or is the west still the best?"

Dipper glanced over at Wendy, smirking as he set the pen down and adjusted his hat. "The east got nothing on the west."

She smiled and nodded. "Good, good."

Dipper thought she wasn't going to say anymore, so he started, "I am sorry I le-"

"Don't apologize. Please, Dipper, please, just don't. I don't need it. I understand. It was an opportunity, and you took it. I read your book, and dude, that was some good stuff. I mean, I don't read often so I don't have much to compare it to, but it was good. It was."

Dipper smiled and nodded. "Thank you, that means a lot."

"Hey, it's nothing. I am sure this won't be exciting as the book, but hey, it will still be something to bring us back together."

"Yeah...yeah, you're right."

"By the way, I wanted to ask. Are you staying?"

Dipper looked at Wendy, eyes wide, not sure what to say. So, he shrugged. "I don't know, Wendy. I mean…"

"Hey, don't be worried for me. There is someone, however, who you should be worried about."

The young man leaned to the side, past Wendy's shoulder at the young woman gazing at the horizon.

"She would hate me if I went back."

"I don't know about that...but she would be upset. Can't you publish from here?"

"I mean, yeah...not sure how my publisher or agent would think about it."

"Screw them man, imagine if you and your sister wrote books. That would be, like, the awesomest stuff ever."

Dipper grinned, with Wendy returning it before she turned her head towards Soos. "How much longer, Soos, my man?"  
"We got at least an hour, milady!"

"Pfft, anyway, I should get to work. We got some equipment we'll need, and I need to organize it. You get to deciphering that weird as hell code talk bull."

"You got it, milady," Dipper joked.

Wendy shook her head, rolled her eyes, and went back to the duffle bag she brought along.

Dipper picked up the pen and finally got to biting it, watching as his sister gave the air around her a wide grin.

 _I wonder what she is thinking about?_ He thought to himself.

His mind ran with ideas of what she might be contemplating, if anything, before he shook his head, emptied his mind, and focused on the strange symbols and signs on the paper in front of him.

 _Back to work._

* * *

It didn't feel that long to Dipper when he looked up to see an island off in the distance. He turned to look at Soos. "Is that it?"

"You're darn right it is, hambone!"

Mabel ran up to the bow of the ship and got into a majestic posture, pointing forward at the island. "Full speed ahead!"

As Soos increased the pace, Dipper could see the island coming closer, showing more and more of its beautiful details. It had rocky cliffs and lush green forests. He wouldn't doubt if there was a waterfall with a rainbow in the center. It looked like paradise.

* * *

The ship docked by the shore, the four friends staring out into the forest, looking for any signs of life.

"I don't see any dangerous animals," Dipper remarked, noticing Wendy walking over to her duffle bag, "I think we can get off the boat."

"Not without these," Wendy said.

Dipper and Mabel turned around, only to have two pistols held out in front of them. Dipper stepped back, eyes wide. "Woah, Wendy! We won't be needing guns!"

"How do you know?" The redhead frowned and shoved the guns in their hands. "Anything can happen."

"Well, why don't you hold them?"

She sighed. "Because I got this," she pulled out an assault rifle from the bag.

Mabel pointed at it. "Where...did you even get that?"

"I know people...you don't need to know. Anyway, Soos will be staying here, guarding the boat, while we explore the island. Dipper, you got the book?"

"Well, yeah, but where the hell do I put the gun?"

"Just, like, stuff it into your pants...uh...as for Mabel…"

Mabel smiled and shoved it into her sweater. "I got it handled."

She looked at Dipper and Wendy, who both stared at the girl, eyebrows cocked.

"Well," Dipper began, stuffing his gun into the back of his pants and looking out to the island, "Let's get going."

With that, Soos lowered the rope ladder, allowing the three to climb down.

As Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy walked away, they waved at Soos, who waved back, shouting, "Good luck, young adventurer dudes!"

When they got a good distance away, they looked ahead, admiring the beautiful scenery the island gave to them, with lush greenery and harmless wildlife, running with their families and such. Dipper pulled his book out and opened it to the page with a map of the island.

Wendy glanced over. "So, what are we looking for?"

Dipper shrugged. "I don't know. There are these markings next to these Xs on the maps. Maybe we should go to each of them, and see if they offer anything?"

"Alright, where's the nearest one."

Dipper pointed ahead, where a large hill sat. "It should be forward. Why don't we go up the hill, see if we can get a good view?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Mabel?"

The twin sister smiled, pulling her shades off in a very dramatic manner and narrowing her eyes. "Let's do this."

Dipper smirked and shook his head as he led the way, walking up the path. The two girls followed from behind as he reached the top.

He froze, eyes wide, staring out to whatever lay beyond.

Mabel raised her eyebrows. "Dipper?"

The two girls finally reached him, seeing what seemed so shocking to the boy. Their eyes widened as well.

In front of them, a whole camp was set up with men armed with guns. Some seemed to be defending, others seemed to be searching. In the center, a professional looking woman stood with black hair and glasses, observing the whole event.

"What is going on? Who are these people?"

Dipper glanced at Wendy. "I don't know. Whoever they are, they don't look friendly."

"They are probably here for the same reason we are," Mabel said.

"Yeah," Dipper replied. He began to walk back and forth, as he always did when not sure what to do next. "Maybe we can sneak around them somehow?"

"They would find us eventually," Wendy said.

"You're right. We can't fight them," he stood over the edge of the hill, where a long drop was.

"We could call the authorities," Mabel suggested.

"No that wouldn't work because-" he began to turn around to face them, only for the dirt beneath him to fall from the weight placed unto it.

And with it, Dipper went.

"Shi-" Was the last thing he could utter before being sent down the hill, hitting many rocks and shrubbery along the way, cutting and bruising the young author's body, earning many grunts of pain.

After at least thirty seconds of falling, he landed on the ground with a loud yelp.

The ground, however, seemed softer than before.

Dipper opened his eyes, groaning at the pain wracking his body, to see a young woman underneath him. Her blonde hair splayed out across the ground, her eyes opening as well to show blue irises. She was wearing a black tanktop, but a purple cashmere cardigan was tied around her waist, leading to her dark blue jeans. In her hands, she clutched a cell phone.

When she opened her eyes fully, they widened at the sight of a man on top of her. He could feel her chest rising quickly as her pulse picked up.

They stared at each other for a good minute, taking everything in.

Dipper gave a bad smile.

"Uh...hey?"

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's so late. College will start soon so things will begin to be slow and I am sorry. Also sorry that it's so badly written, I promise you things will start to pick up. Please comment any criticisms or praise. Hope to see you next time and thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The forced smile on Dipper's face was beginning to fail, mostly because his scratches were hurting. The moment was becoming more awkward by the second.

As if it wasn't awkward enough.

"Uh...hey?"

Dipper knew what the girl beneath him was going to do before she even did it.

She opened her mouth and released a huge scream.

He still recoiled back, falling off her stomach and onto her legs. "I am sorry! Oh my god, I am sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Instantly, he found himself staring at the barrels of multiple machine guns, followed by shouts.

"Get back!"

"Stay down!"

"Don't move!"

One of the men helped the girl to her feet. She dusted herself off as he addressed her. "Miss Northwest, are you alright?"

Once she finished slapping away the dirt that clung to her clothing, she nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yes, I am. I just got frightened. It's not everyday you get jumped by a random man," she added that last few words with a bit of venom, glaring at Dipper.

The young man leaned forward. "I am sorry, I just tri-"

"Back!" One of the men jabbed him in the forehead with the barrel of their assault rifle.

Dipper winced from the hit. "Ah, jeez, man!" He put his hand up to his head to feel the bump forming, as well as the odd sensation of no cap keeping his hair down. Which means his birthmark was visible to everyone.

"What the hell is that? It's kinda gross." The woman called Northwest narrowed her eyes at him, pointing at the mark on his forehead and wrinkling her nose.

That was when she realized the phone in her hand. Some voice was still emitting from its speakers. A sigh escaped from her lips. "I will call you back later," then snapped it shut before facing Dipper completely, knuckles resting on her hips.

"What do you want us to do, ma'am?"

A huff came from the girl. "I don't know. Knock him out, or something."

"Yes, ma'am." One of them said, stepping closer, raising his gun up until the butt of it faced Dipper.

"Wait, wait, you don't have to-"

 _Whack!_

* * *

"Oh dear…"

"Yeah, that's a phrase for it."

"Oh crap, what are we going to do?"

"Mabel, just calm down."

"It's hard to be calm when your brother is captured by...by a bunch of...mercenaries." She gestured to the situation; her unconscious brother being dragged off somewhere, with the blonde girl following behind, "I am gonna get that bitch."

"To be honest, Mabel, he _did_ land on her."

"...Still gonna get her."

"Well, before we can...we gotta save Dipper."

"How?"

"I don't know, dude. Maybe...we should get back to Soos."

Mabel watched as her brother was dragged away, disappearing behind some brush. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Right. Yeah. Let's get back to Soos before-"

 _Bang!_

The two girls snapped their heads toward the direction of the gunshot. Fortunately, it wasn't from where Dipper was.

Unfortunately, it was from where Soos was.

* * *

 _ **A Few Minutes Ago**_

"Dooooo-do-dodododo...dude...going on an adventure with my dudes. Uhhh...man I need to practice my freestyle more. I am getting rusty."

Soos looked over at the duffle bag, his eyes running along one of the firearms in it. "I seriously wonder how Wendy came to procure such dangerous weaponry. Maybe it's a lumberjack thing."

He reached down and picked one up. "Oh dude, this is sweet."

His eyes darted around, before he placed his wrist on his forearm, aiming the gun out at the forest. "Stand still, dude, you're under arrest and stuff."

Soos lowered the gun and laughed. "Hah, that was a good one," he said, looking down at it, "Man I really need to show the guys that on-"

 _Bang!_

Suddenly the gun went off, making Soos jump and drop the gun. "Holy heck, dude, that wasn't expected!"

He picked the gun back up and tossed it into the water. "There! Now no one can shoot it!"

" _SOOS!"_

"Oh no."

Suddenly, two young women burst from the brush, their faces full of worry. Mabel and Wendy stared at him with wide eyes, the latter. "What happened, are you okay?" The latter asked, throwing the strap of her assault rifle around her neck.

Soos nodded and held up a hand to wave. "Yeah, dudes, I am fine! My gun must've had a hair trigger or something, it just shot without warning!"

"What gun? We didn't give you a gun? Where's the gun?" Mabel asked.

"I threw it in the water!"

"You what!? Ugh, nevermind, Soos, get out of the boat!" Wendy beckoned him to get off.

"Why?"

"Because we aren't the only ones on this island! Dipper has been captured!"

"Captured? My little dude? Oh man! We gotta find him!"

"We will," Wendy said with determination, "But that gunshot alerted the whole island to our presence! Like, mercenary types! So please just get off so that we can hide!"

"Oh, really dude? Mercs? Oh crap. I'll be down in a second!"

Soos ran over and climbed down the rope ladder, his feet hitting the soft sand before setting off for the girls. "Where do we go?"

Wendy, in the meantime, was already thinking of where to hide. Her eyes searched everywhere, trying her best to stay calm, even as she heard shouts emerge from the forest. They were getting closer. She had to think fast.

* * *

"I think I found their boat!" A man shouted, waving to his squad, his assault rifle at the ready in case any enemies were in sight. After capturing that guy and taking him away, the whole island has gone on full alert, desperate to find the rest of his friends and rally them up. Whether to kill them or let them go, he doesn't know.

His squad stood in front of the boat, staring at it. "What should we do sir?" One of them looked to the man, awaiting his order.

The man reached up to scratch his chin, his eyes looking the vessel up and down, trying to figure out what to do with it.

That's when it came to him.

"Blow it."

* * *

"What are they putting on it?" Mabel squinted her eyes to see if she could identify the object the men are putting on the side of the boat herself. The three were hiding behind some rocks a good distance away.

Wendy shrugged. "I couldn't tell ya. Can't be good. That's for damn sure."

"What are they doing to my boat, dudes?"

"I guess all we can do is wait now, Soo-"

 _Boom!_

A pillar of flames erupted towards the sky as the wooden boat exploded into bits and pieces, splinters and planks flying every which way.

Whatever was left of the ship floating backwards before falling to the deepest depths of the sea.

Wendy instantly reached out and covered Soos' mouth to muffle his pained screams for the S.S. Cool Dude while Mabel stood by, her hands covering her mouth in shock. _I just wanted this to be a fun adventure with my brother and friends. How could this have gone so wrong?_

"Please still be alive, Dipper." She whispered to herself.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Hey...hey, kid...wake up."

Dipper's consciousness, and so, his hearing, was returning, to the words of some man. He opened his eyes slowly, A hand was waving in front of him. He could feel plywood underneath his knees.

"C'mon, kid. The boss lady wants to talk."

 _Boss lady? The blonde?_

"I...where am I?" He blinked a few times to see that he was in what looked to be some makeshift jail.

"How the hell would I know? This island isn't even on the map."

 _It's not? Oh yeah, it isn't. Thirty five degrees, twenty seven minutes, forty-point-six seconds north, one hundred forty-three degrees, fifty eight minutes, forty-one-point-one west._

"Now stand up, the boss lady wants to talk."

Dipper groaned, reaching up with his fingers to feel a laceration across his forehead, just above his birthmark, and all the dried blood that fell when it was first opened.

He spoke as he got onto his hands and knees, pushing himself up to his feet, "Just give me a minute, okay? Believe it or not, this is my...first experience getting knocked unconscious without my consent."

"Well then do it quick, I don't have all day."

His ears adjusted to a new voice in the room, one with a spanish accent. He turned his head up to see a tanned woman stepping into the tent that housed this DIY jail cell. She was in her mid-thirties, and wearing a black business suit. She stared at him through rectangle shaped glasses, adjusting them, which only seemed to make her dark brown eyes stand out somehow.

The man who spoke to him was standing to the side, submachine gun in hand.

"Who...who are you?" He narrowed his eyes at her, "What happened to that girl...the one that I fell on?"

"Oh, you mean Ms. Northwest? She is fine. You gave her quite a scare."

"I didn't...I didn't mean to do that. I tripped and fell."

"Which brings me to my next question. We found this book on you," she said, reaching into her suit to pull out the journal.

Dipper's eyes widened as he patted his vest, feeling no protrusion of the book itself.

"This is what brought you here?"

The young man frowned and crossed his arms. "Maybe."

A sigh escaped from between her lips. "There's no reason to lie. It's pretty obvious. I'll admit, it's much better than my source. Yet...I got here first."

"Your source?" Dipper cocked an eyebrow.

"Not gonna-I mean, I am not going to disclose that. Where'd you find this little...treasure?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, it is my business. The Northwest family has paid a lot of money for this little expedition of mine. Finding this island was the first step, and now we have hit a wall. This journal might just be the C4 we need to blow it down."

Dipper glanced down at the floor.

"So...where did you find it?"

He smirked. "I didn't."

"Hm?"

"I didn't find it."

She closed the book, and put a hand on her hip. "Then who did? A friend? Family member?"

"Yes."

"You must think you are so funny."

"I'd like to think so."

The woman fell silent and began to pace back and forth, book still held firm in her grasp. Her dress shoes crunched the dirt beneath them as her mind processed everything. Dipper watched her with curious eyes.

Eventually, she stopped in front of the young man, turning her head up to reveal a smile on her face. "Well...let's see if you are still laughing after this."

She snapped her fingers. The other man in the room gave a sly grin before walking over.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a little bit of...intimidation."

The man took out a key and unlocked the cell door, opening it wide. He gestured for Dipper to step out.

He was hesitant, but knew he had no choice. His foot stepped out of the cell, and onto the dirt, eyes flitting between the woman and the man.

Before he could step out with the other foot, the man's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, wrenching him away from the cell.

Dipper fell out and slammed against the dirt floor, earning a gasp of pain from the young man.

"Ahh...come on man," Dipper coughed, and was about to push himself up to his feet when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his back as the man kicked him down with his boot, causing him to shriek.

He rolled over, looking up at the man's devilish smirk. The author could just see the cruel intentions behind his eyes.

The woman stepped into view. "If you tell me now, we don't have to go through this whole song and dance. So...who found this?"

Dipper knew what she meant by "song and dance".

But that isn't going to convince him.

He smiled. "I can't remember."

The man glanced over to the lady, who returned it. He grinned. "Then let's help you." He said before he swung his foot towards Dipper's face, connecting with his jaw and sending the young man to the side, a spatter of blood ejecting from his mouth. It painted the floor below, turning it a dark brownish-red. Droplets fell from his lips to collect in a tiny pool.

"How'd that feel?" The man asked.

Dipper looked down at the blood dripping onto the dirt. He spat whatever collected in his mouth out and smiled up at the man, showing his blood-stained teeth. The kick hurt a lot, but he wasn't about to give up his twin.

"Couldn't feel a thing." He replied, breathing heavy.

"Then let's see if we can change that."

The next thing Dipper saw was a fist, flying straight towards his face.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"So...my brother is missing, our boat is blown up, and we are outnumbered by at least fifty or more men," Mabel stared out at the ocean, the brown eyes she shares with her sibling reflecting the calm waves.

Wendy planted the butt of her gun into the sand, sighing aloud. Her bright green eyes shone in the dying sun.

Soos leaned against a rock, frowning and looking downward. "What are we going to do?"

The trio went quiet, a collection of thoughts in all of their heads.

As the sun fell below the horizon, Wendy stood up, taking her gun and throwing the strap over her shoulder. The other two watched her as she turned around, looking back at them.

"We fight back."

* * *

A/N: I am sorry for being away so long. I am busy, I have a few other stories that need updating, so I spent time between them, and I decided that chapter 3 needed to be finished. So I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a comment, as they really help me out. Thank you for reading!


End file.
